NCHS AP English Language

Author: Kate Pennebaker/Kyle Smith

Beckwith is indeed a pawn and was not responsible for killing Medgar Evers. When someone lives in a society that is so biased against a certain person or thing, it is hard, if not impossible, to oppose or argue against it. In a sense it is peer pressure that made him kill Medgar Evers because peer pressure made him believe it was what he was supposed to do. Beckwith can be easily compared to a piece of clay. He is easily molded into what the society, his creator, wants him to become. In a literal sense (the chess piece) is not used for their versatility of moves, because they can only move one space at a time. A human pawn is unfree in a way in a way that other humans are not. It is considered rare for this to happen, but when it does, it is highly celebrated. Again, this is like Beckwith. He wasn't anything out of the ordinary until he made himself stand out by doing something he knew that has people would praise him for: killing Medgar. Therefore, Beckwith was the unfortunate victim of being the pawn of his racist community.
What he did is overshadowed by what he was; a community filled with people prejudiced against blacks. Also, pawns rarely have the oppurtunity to become queens. It is not important what the piece does but where it actually is. This is just like Beckwith. Therefore, Beckwith was the unfortunate victim of being the pawn of his racist community.

posted by NCHS AP English Language III @ 3:01 PM